Through the Eyes of One
by Commander Kitsune
Summary: Prequel to 'The Sacred Thirteen'. 400 years ago a Riolu washed up on a beach a few miles from Treasure Town. He has no recollection of who he is except that he's a human and his name. Kitsune. Future Riolu x Vulpix pairing. Rated T for some swearing. SI.
1. Day One: Chance or Destiny

**Day One - Chance or Destiny**

(Cue song Revelation by Junichi Nakatsuru from SoulCalibur IV OST)

I was confident. Confident in our mission. Confident that we would prevent this disaster from ever occurring.

'We should never have to live like that ever again,' I thought as I watched the many coloured lights streak past me at blinding speeds. Every now and then I would catch glimpses of things that I had read about or things I remembered from my teachings.

_BOOM!_

"Whoa! Wh-wh-woah...!" I exclaimed as a shockwave passed through me; my hand tightening around my partner's own. The lights had changed from multi-coloured, to a stormy grey. Flashes of white and loud booming noises sounded in my ears.

"Should this be happening?" I shouted to my partner. From the look in his eyes, he was about as lost as I was.

_BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!_

A bright bolt of lightning sliced past us, barely inches from striking my partner. Another loud rumble sounded around me.

"Are..." I yelled at my partner who was a little freaked out at how close it had been. "Are you OK?"

He nodded back. A little shaken up but we had been through tougher situations than this.

Another flash of lightning zipped past, this one even closer than the last, and exploded to the side of us. The shockwave sent us out of the middle of the tunnel, where we were safe, to the edge. We slammed right into the side and began to spin very fast. I felt my partner's grip slip slightly and desperately tried to hold on.

"No! Don't let go!" I yelled at him, looking straight into his eyes. I could see the fear in his eyes. But it wasn't fear of dying, or fear that we wouldn't get to our destination. It was fear that we would be separated.

"Just a little longer!" I yelled. "Come on! Hang on!"

Another crash and bolt of lightning struck near us, creating even more spin. My partner was quickly slipping. He looked into my eyes.

"N-n-no! I can't... hold on...!" came a voice that I was unfamiliar with, but it sounded like it just came from my partner. But this wasn't the time to be surprised.

"You have to!" I yelled back.

_BOOOOOMMMMMM!_

A lightning bolt blew up right where we were and our hands were torn apart from each other. I grouped for my partner as he spiralled away from me.

"Nooooooooooooooo!"

Then nothing.

* * *

(Cue music silence)

I awoke slightly to realise that I was in a raging sea. I coughed as I turned over in the water to see a cliff. It looked to be in the shape of a... Sharpedo. Bright bolts of lightning rained down almost as much as the rain that was pounding on the stormy sea. The wind, howling in my ears. I began to get dizzy and slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

I awoke again to a different scene. I was staring at a bright blue sky lined with fluffy white clouds. I tilted my head slightly and saw a bay of clear blue water with green foliage on the other side.

'Where... am I?' I thought to myself before the dizziness returned and I found myself slipping again.

* * *

_...ey..._

'Huh?'

_...Hey y..._

'What's going on?'

_...y wake u..._

'Who's that calling?'

"What happened? Are you OK?"

I slowly opened my eyes and squinted at the light which seemed to be afternoon light. "Ugh..." I grunted as I got up on to my feet.

"You're awake! Thank goodness!"

I looked around to try to see anything I recognized but nothing popped into my mind. 'Where... where am I...?' I thought to myself.

(Cue song Sit Beside Me by Yuki Kajiura from .hack/SIGN Original Soundtrack 1)

I then looked to the side of me and saw a cute and beautiful Vulpix. She had smooth red-brown fur and her paws were covered in dark brown fur. Her six orange tails were curled up and her brown, pupil-less eyes gazed in worry back at me.

"You wouldn't move at all. I was really scared for you! Do you have any idea how you ended up unconscious out here?"

'I... I was unconscious? What happened...?'

"Anyway, I'm Kyuubi. Happy to meet you! And who are you? I don't think I've seen you around before."

My mind finally realised that there was a Pokémon who could talk. Quite fluently as well.

"You can talk?" I asked, talking for the very first time. She looked slightly confused. "Of course I can. Did you hit your head on something by accident?"

I shook my head. "No... at least I don't think so. I'm human so it's a little weird that a Pokémon talks to me."

"What? You're saying that you're a human?" she said totally confused now. She looked me up and down. "You look like a totally normal Riolu to me!"

"Huh? Riolu?" I asked intelligently before bolting over to a rock pool I spotted. I looked into the water and saw my reflection. A blue and black face with big red eyes stared back at me.

"Ah!" I yelled out as I fell back. "It's... it's true!" I then looked at myself to see powerful arms and legs. I looked behind me to see a black tail.

"How did this happen?" I asked myself. "I've turned into a Riolu!" I then brought my hand... I mean paw to my face in a thoughtful stance. 'But how did this happen? I don't remember anything...' I thought to myself.

"You're... a little odd..." said Kyuubi. She looked a little wary of me. "Are you trying to pull a trick on me?"

"No way! I'd never do something like that. I'm telling the truth! I was human," I tried to get her to accept this fact.

"You are?" she asked but still looked a little dubious. "Ok then, how about your name? What's your name?"

'My name? That's right, my name is...'

"Kitsune," is what I answered.

"So you're name is Kitsune?" she asked. I nodded. She then relaxed. "Ok, well, you don't seem to be a bad Pokémon, at least." She then bowed her head in embarrassment. "Sorry that I doubted you. More and more bad Pokémon have been turning up lately, you see! A lot of Pokémon have gotten aggressive lately. It's just not safe anymore..."

'It seems she still doesn't believe me. Well it is a wild thought. A human turning into a Pokémon,' I thought to myself as she was talking.

As we were both busy I didn't notice two shapes moving quickly up behind Kyuubi. The only warning I had was when Kyuubi cried out in pain and I looked to see her flying right into me. We collided and skidded on the sand for a few meters. I looked up to see a Zubat and a Koffing.

(Cue song Dragon paw by Scudelia Electro from King of Bandits Jing: OST)

"Owchie," said Kyuubi as she laid there on the sand in front of me.

"Well, I do beg your pardon," said Koffing sarcastically.

Kyuubi lifted herself off the ground and looked back at the duo, pissed. "Hey! Why'd you do that?" she yelled.

Zubat laughed creepily. "Can't figure it out?" he said. "We wanted to mess with you! Can't face up to us, can you?"

"Wh-what?" exclaimed Kyuubi as she spotted something lying on the sand a few meters away. I looked along her sight and saw a rock with a strange design inscribed onto the flat, smooth side.

"That's yours, isn't it?" asked Zubat, even though it was obvious he knew the answer already.

"That's my...!" she never got to finish what she was going to say as Zubat swooped in and grabbed the rock. "Sorry kiddo, but this is ours now!" he said.

"Ahhh! No!" cried out Kyuubi in horror.

Koffing laughed a deep in-your-face laugh. "Not going to make a move to get that back? What's the matter? Too scared? I didn't expect you to be such a big coward!"

Kyuubi made no move to retrieve the rock.

"Come on. Let's get out of there," Koffing said to his partner and the two Pokémon flew past us.

"See you around, chicken!" said Zubat as they headed up the beach.

(Cue music silence)

"No..." said Kyuubi as she watched helplessly. "Wh-what should I do?" she asked to herself.

"Why don't you go after those two and beat the snot out of them?" I asked.

"But it's two against one and I'm not strong enough on my own." She sighed. "That's my personal treasure. It means everything to me. If I lose that..." She started to get teary eyed.

(Cue song Negative by WATABE Chierul from Prince of Tennis Original Soundtrack 2)

I grinned. "Actually it's two on two." Kyuubi looked up at me. "C'mon. I wouldn't walk away from someone in need. That's how I feel. So I'll help you get back your treasure, OK?" I said. I patted her on the head. "So don't cry, OK?"

She sniffed before she rubbed her tears away with her paw. "You would really do that for me?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah. I'm not heartless," I replied. "But you have to find the courage to get it back as well."

She nodded. "You're right. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I have to get it back!"

"Well then let's go!" I said.

"Yeah!" she replied.

"So where did they go?" I asked, looking down the beach. At the end I saw a cliff with a large cave in the side. "Maybe they went in there?" I asked.

"Yeah. That's the Beach cave. It's got a few territorial Pokémon inside it so we'll have to fight them to get further inside," Kyuubi replied.

"Ok then," I said and we took off for the cave.

(Cue song Rebel Forces by Steve Jablonsky, Trevor Morris from Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars OST)

Inside was typical for a cave at the sea. It smelled of fish and salt. We walked for a few minutes before we crossed paths with a Shellos. It attacked without warning. I swiftly moved to the side and struck out with my paw. The blow connected and the Shellos was sent tumbling away. It got up but quickly retreated.

"Wow," I said. "I didn't know I was that powerful."

"You're strong!" said Kyuubi.

"Yeah? You think so?" I asked. She nodded. "Yeah!"

We continued on, every so often another Shellos would attack and sometimes we would have to knock it out. Kyuubi was quite strong herself. Even though she disagreed when I mentioned it I really thought she was strong.

As we were roughly half way she asked something.

"So can you tell me anything about yourself?" she asked.

"Actually..." I said before I realised that I couldn't remember anything of my past. Nothing at all.

"I have no idea of who I was before this. I don't recall anything." I looked at her. "It's strange." She looked back at me, worry written all over her face.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll remember something later," I said to get her to focus on the task at hand.

After another few encounters we arrived at the end of the cave. There were red corral pillars around the edge of the walls and a small lagoon was situated at the far end. The two Pokémon we were chasing were at the water edge.

(Cue song Just Like You Imagined by Nine Inch Nails)

"Um..." said Kyuubi uncertainly. I nodded at her and her resolve hardened.

"Hey!" she said loudly. This caught the attention to Zubat and Koffing and they turned around.

"Well, well..." smirked Koffing. "If it isn't our old friend, the big chicken."

Kyuubi flinched before she continued. "Give me..." she said softly before it all came out.

"Give me back what you stole from me! That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!" she yelled.

"Treasure, you say?" asked Zubat curiously. "So this thing really is valuable, huh?"

"It could be worth more than what we hoped for, I'd say," said Koffing. "We ought to try selling it. Who knows? It might get a good price." Koffing then smirked. "All the more reason not to give it back!"

By this time I'd had enough. I charged in and swiftly punched Koffing square in the face. He shot off and slammed into a large rock. He bounced off and rolled on the ground, knocked out.

"Why you little punk!" said Zubat but it was too late. One second later he was KO'd on the sand. I walked past the two and picked up the rock.

"Got it Kyuubi!" I yelled over to her.

"Yay!" she said, very happy with this turn around. I walked over and we both left the cave together.

* * *

(Cue song Kaiso by WATABE Chierul from Prince of Tennis Original Soundtrack 2)

We stood out on the sand, looking out across the bay. Kyuubi turned to me and smiled. "It's thanks to you that I got this back." She then walked up next to me and pressed her head against me. "Thank you so much!" she cried out.

"Hey there!" I exclaimed and placed my paws on her shoulders, pushing her back so I could look into her eyes. "You deserve some credit too. I wouldn't have gone in without you so you showed guts to stand up to those two. You would have gotten some of the action but I had just had enough of them. I was merciful by knocking them out in one punch."

She nodded and blinked the tears out of her eyes. I smiled. 'It's so nice to be appreciated,' I thought to myself. She then placed the rock on the ground in front of us.

"This is what they stole. It's a Relic Fragment," she explained. Here she looked a little sheepish. "Well..., at least, that's what I started calling it..."

"The markings on it are quite strange, aren't they?" I asked. Before I didn't get a good look at the pattern but now that I looked at it, it had a certain mystical look to it. At first glimpse it looked like the sun. There was a circle in the middle and wavy lines made its way from the edge of the circle to the edge of the rock.

"That's right. You see, I've always liked legends and lore..." she said. "I always get so excited when I hear tales from the past!" Here she began to get passionate in her talking as she turned to the ocean. "Hidden troves full of treasure and strange relics, uncharted territories veiled in darkness, and new lands just waiting to be discovered! Such places must be full of gold and treasure! And history! Wouldn't it be dramatic to make historic discoveries?" Here she calmed down but still had that passionate fire inside her eyes. "That's what I always dream of. It's all so exciting to me." Here she turned from the ocean to look at the stone. "And it just so happened... that I found this Relic Fragment."

Kyuubi studied the markings on the stone. "There must be some meaning to this pattern. This Relic Fragment must be the key to legendary places! To areas where precious treasure lies!" She looked up to me. "At least, that's the feeling I get."

"Sounds to me you really like all this stuff. Treasure hunting and all the rest," I said. She nodded fiercely. "That's why I want to join an exploration team. This fragment must fit into something... somewhere! I want to discover where that is. I want to solve the mystery of this Relic Fragment."

"Then why don't you do all this?" I asked.

"Well I tried joining up with an exploration team but," here she looked quite sad. "But I was too cowardly..."

"Oh..." was all I said. In our little adventure it did seem that she was a little scared but that slowly disappeared the further we went in. "The first steps are always the hardest," I said.

She nodded and then looked at me. "What about you Kitsune? What are you going to do now?" she asked.

"Well to be honest... I have no idea. At first I thought I would just ask around about anything that might of happened that I could link myself to but..." I trailed off. It didn't need to be said that many other people would think I was completely nuts. 'That is if there are any humans here at all... wherever here is.'

"What about a place to stay?"

I shook my head.

"Well then can I ask a big favour?" Kyuubi asked.

"Uh... sure," I said, unsure of what she was going to ask for.

"Would you form an exploration team with me? I think we could make a good exploration team together, Kitsune."

I was shocked. She just came right out and asked. "Uhhh... well..." I mumbled slightly before really thinking about this.

'Well I do have nowhere to go from here, and I would need a place to stay at least until I get my memory back. And who knows, maybe I'll be able to find a way to change myself back to normal,' I thought.

"So will you do that with me?" asked Kyuubi, almost dreading that I would say no.

'I guess it wouldn't hurt to team up with Kyuubi for now. Hopefully I'll discover who or what I am by hanging out with this Vulpix. Ok, it's settled!'

"Sure thing, Kyuubi. I'll help you," I said, smiling at her.

"Oh? Really?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "You'll really form an exploration team with me?"

"Yeah! It could be fun," I said.

"Yay! Thank you!" she said as she hugged me.

"Yeah yeah," I replied as I patted her back. She then withdrew from me and smiled. "We're going to be a great combination! Let's make this work!" She then turned to the other end of the beach and I looked to see a path lead away from the beach into the forest.

"First, we need to go to Wigglytyuff's place and sign up as apprentices. That's where we can get the training to become a proper exploration team," she explained.

"Ok," I said, looking up to where the trail eventually led to. There was a large building of some sort on the top of the hill the trail led to.

"I think the training will be very tough..." said Kyuubi, looking pensive at the thought. But she instantly brightened up. "So let's give it our best, Kitsune!"

"You got it!" I replied and we slapped each other a high five.

* * *

(Cue music silence)

The entrance to Wigglytuff's place was daunting. A large steal gate barred the entrance. The building looked like a giant Wigglytuff's head. A totem pole and torch flanked each side of the entrance. In front of the gate was a wooden grate.

"This is Wigglytuff's Guild," said Kyuubi. "To form an exploration team, you need to register your team here. Then you have to train until you become a first-rate exploration team." Here she shivered slightly. "Geez, this place is just a little bit odd."

"I'll say," I replied.

Here Kyuubi shook her head. "No...! I've got Kitsune with me this time," she said, more to herself than anything. "I have to be brave!" She then walked forward until she was standing on the grate.

(Cue song Dragon paw by Scudelia Electro from King of Bandits Jing: OST)

"Pokémon detected!" said a voice. It seemed that there was a fair sized hole underneath the grate as there was a strong echo.

"Who's footprint?" said another voice quite different to the first.

"The footprint is Vulpix's!" said the first.

Meanwhile Kyuubi was freaking out. The voices coming up from the grate were making her nervous. "N-no. I can't lose it now..." she said to herself, even though I could hear.

There was a pause before the second voice shouted, "...You may ENTER! Someone's with you! So get that stranger to stand on the GRATE!"

Kyuubi bounded off, glad that her part was over and looked at me. "Your turn now," she said. I looked dubiously at the grate. "If anyone pranks me by sticking something through that grate I will kick their ass!" I said quietly so only Kyuubi could hear before I walked onto the grate.

"Pokémon detected!"

"Who's footprint?"

"The footprint is..." The first voice broke off suddenly. "The footprint is... um..."

"What's the matter? Sentry! Sentry? What's wrong, sentry Diglett?" said the second voice, identifying the first.

"Umm... Er...," Diglett struggled, unsure of something. 'I guess these guys don't get many Riolu's around here. That doesn't surprise me as a Riolu is quite rare,' I thought to myself.

"Umm... The footprint is...," continued Diglett before I got fed up and bent down. "Psst! I'm a Riolu!" I whispered loudly.

"Thanks!" whispered Diglett back before continuing to shout to the second voice. "Maybe Riolu's!"

"What? MAYBE?" yelled the second voice.

"W-well... It's not a footprint that you normally see around here..." explained Diglett.

"UGH! That's pretty crummy!" yelled the second voice, sounding a little disgusted. "Checking the footprints of visiting Pokémon... That's your job, ISN'T it Diglett?"

"Yes but... I don't know what I don't know," explained Diglett.

Back with us, we were both sweatdropping. "What the hell?" I said.

"Are they arguing?" asked Kyuubi.

"Sounds like it," I replied. The second voice then erupted out of the grate, scaring the hell out of me as it was much louder than before. "Sorry to make you WAIT. Well, it's TRUE that you don't see any Riolu in these parts... But you don't SEEM to be bad... That's good enough for US! ENTER!"

A soft rumbling was felt before the gate lifted out of sight, showing a hole with a ladder leading into it.

"Woah!" said Kyuubi. "I'm so nervous! So jittery!" she said.

"Don't worry Kyuubi. I'm here with you," I said comfortingly.

She then stopped shaking and calmed down. "Yeah. That's right," she said. She then turned to the cleared opening. "I'm glad we're finally allowed in. My heart's pounding though," she said. "Anyway, let's go," she finished up and the two of us walked inside the tent like room. We both grasped the ladder and climbed down. When we got to the bottom, we got one hell of a surprise.

(Cue song Gekko-Go by Naoki Sato from Eureka seveN OST 1 Disc 1)

The ladder lead to an underground cavern. Grass and flowers carpeted the floor. In the middle was a stone paced area. As we walked to this area, I looked around at all the Pokémon around us. There was a Pidgey, a Seedot, a Swellow, a Wurmple, a Ledian, a Bidoof and a Sunflora. And that was just on this level. As far as I could tell there was a second level underneath us. The whole atmosphere was comforting and friendly. On the wall from where we came from were two large bulletin boards.

"So this is Wigglytuff's Guild!" said Kyuubi in barely contained excitement. "There are sure a lot of Pokémon here. Do they all belong to exploration teams?"

"Probably," I replied before a new voice broke through our conversation. I looked to the right and saw a Chatot. It seemed to have come up from the lower level. The Pokémon walked up to us. "It was you two that just came in, right?" he asked. I judged that it was a 'he' from the tone of voice.

"That's right," I said.

"I'm Chatot!" the Pokémon introduced. "I'm the Pokémon in the know around these parts! I am Guildmaster Wigglytuff's right-hand Pokémon!" He seemed to be quite proud of these positions. His voice then took a slightly annoyed tone. "Now, shoo! Leave the premises! We have no time for salespeople or silly surveys. Off you go, if you please!"

'Man oh man! It's like talking to a human with human problems!' I thought to myself before I spoke. "Hey! You shouldn't jump to conclusions like that! And we came here to sign up as an exploration team..." I left the end hanging with Kyuubi nodding.

"Wh-what? Exploration team?" exclaimed Chatot. He then turned around and mumbled to himself, even though I could hear him just fine. Looking at Kyuubi I saw that she could as well.

"It's rare to see kids like these want to apprentice at the guild. Especially given how hard our training is! Surely the steady stream of Pokémon that run away from our rigorous training proves how true this is!"

"It's that tough?" asked Kyuubi.

"Wha!" It seemed we caught Chatot off guard. He quickly recovered though. "Well... no! No, no, no! It's not true in the slightest! Our training program for exploration teams is as easy as can be!" Chatot flustered.

"I think I believe your mumblings over this," I said.

"Well, well, well!" Chatot almost sang, ignoring my words. "I wish you had told me up front that you wanted to be an exploration team!" he finished, laughing nervously.

"We would of if you hadn't cut us off," I mumbled, this time only loud enough for Kyuubi to hear.

"What a shift in attitude," she replied back.

"OK! Let's get your team signed up right away. Follow me!" said Chatot and he walked over to the second ladder. He turned back to see that we weren't following him. "Oh? Anything wrong? Come on! Over here!"

I shook my head before the two of us followed him.

The second level was the same on the basic level. It was still grass covered however this room had a door with a large red symbol painted on the front; surrounded with pink painted bricks. Aside from that there were two large archways leading to two other rooms. On my right was a stone hut carved into the shape of a Croagunk hunched over. Underneath was a real Croagunk stirring a large cauldron.

"This is the second underground floor of the guild," explained Chatot. "This is mainly where the apprentices work." He then unfolded his right wing and pointed it in the direction of the painted door. "Team registration is this way. Come along, please."

We turned with him toward the door, but Kyuubi caught sight of something and ran past us, to a window. She looked out and her eyes glossed up. "Wow!" she awed. "We're two floors underground but you can see outside!"

Chatot huffed impatiently. "Oh, please! Hush now! The guild is built into the side of a cliff. It's only natural that you would be able to see the outside."

"Oh..." said Kyuubi, slightly deflated. She then ran over to where we were gathered.

"Now, here we are at Guildmaster Wigglytuff's chamber," explained Chatot. "On no account... I repeat, on no account should you be discourteous to our Guildmaster," he stressed. He then turned to the door and called out, "Guildmaster! It's Chatot! I'm coming in!" He then pressed his wind against the door and pushed it in.

(Cue music silence)

The room on the other side was quite different in terms of what was inside it. There were two large chests of brightly coloured trinkets and objects, even some gems. Next to each chest was a large torch which was out at this time. Two windows looked out to the sea. The ground, like the last two rooms we had been through, was covered in grass with flowers dotted here and there. At the opposite side of where we were standing was a red rug and on top of it, facing away from us, was a large Wigglytuff. 'He must be the Guildmaster,' I though.

"Guildmaster!" called Chatot. "I present to you two Pokémon who wish to join our guild as apprentices."

There wasn't any evidence that the pink Pokémon had heard him. He didn't even move.

"Guildmaster..." said Chatot uncertainly. "...um...Guildmaster?"

There was a pause before very suddenly the Pokémon turned around quickly to face us. The suddenness of this action made us both jump.

(Cue song Promised Grace by Kumi Tanioka from "FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES" Original Soundtrack)

"Hiya!" said Wigglytuff in a slightly childish voice. "I'm Wigglytuff! I'm the guild's Guildmaster! You want to form an exploration team? Then, let's go for it! First we must register your exploration team's name!"

"Team... name?" said Kyuubi who was caught off guard. She wasn't the only one. I was surprised as well.

"I didn't think about a team name," admitted the fox Pokémon. She turned to me. "Can you think of a good name for us?" she asked.

I brought my hand, I mean paw, to my chin and thought hard. 'What to call it? What to call it? What to call it? ...uhhhhh... hmmm... I got it!'

I turned to Kyuubi. "How bout Team Oathkeeper, cause we always keep our promises. What do you think?" I asked.

She thought for a few moments, muttering the name to herself, testing it out. "Team Oathkeeper... I like it! It's a good name!"

"Awesome!" I grinned.

"Yeah! It's perfect for us!" replied Kyuubi.

"All settled then!" said Wigglytuff with enthusiasm. "I'll register your team as Team Oathkeeper." He then began to act a little weird. He rocked slightly from side to side singing "Registering! Registering!" for several seconds. He then stopped and said "All registered..." Then he yelled out "YOOM...TAH!" and jumped into the air. As he did this a wave of incredible energy blasted out of him and flowed through us, filling us with purpose. It was an exhilarating feeling. Then, just as it had come, the energy vanished from us, leaving the feeling behind inside us.

"Damn!" I breathed, completely blown away.

"Woah!" said Kyuubi herself.

"Congratulations! From now on, you're an official exploration team!" He then pushed a small chest toward us which was definitely not there before. "I present you with this in commemoration."

Kyuubi seemed to know the significance of this chest. "A Pokémon Exploration Team Kit?" she asked.

"Yup! It's what every exploration team needs. Open it up," he suggested.

I shrugged before walking over to the chest and flipping open the lid. Inside there were two badges that looked like pokeballs with small wings attached to each side. One had a red polished gem in the middle while the other had an electric purple one. There was also a map and a bag.

"Yes! There are all sorts of great items in here!" exclaimed Kyuubi who seemed to know exactly how important they were.

"The badges are your official team identification!" explained the Guildmaster. "And there's the Wonder Map, which is a wonder of convenience!"

'Is he serious?' I asked in my mind as he seemed just a bit too childish.

"Finally there's a Treasure Bag. It lets you carry items you find in dungeons. It's a very wonderful bag. Have a look inside!"

I did so and found two items inside. There was a purple and an orange scarf inside. I took out the two scarfs and we admired them.

"Cool..." I said before wrapping the purple one around me, tying it so that a long length of it flowed behind me almost all the way to my feet. I posed in front of Kyuubi. "How do I look?" I asked.

"So cool..." she breathed in awe. I blushed before offering the orange scarf to her. She carefully weaved her scarf around until it was in a position muck like my own, the long end draped over her back.

"Very nice!" I approved, giving her the thumbs up. She blushed slightly but smiled widely all the same.

"Those two scarfs are special. I'm sure they will help you on your adventures!" said the Guildmaster.

"Thank you very much," I said, bowing slightly before him. Kyuubi bowed her head as well. "Yes, thank you so very much! We'll do our best!"

"Yup! But you're only apprenticing right now. So do your best... to train!" reminded Wigglytuff.

"We will!" we both said at the same time. Kyuubi turned to me, smiling happily. "Let's always do our best, Kitsune!"

"Yeah!" I agreed. "And remember, Team Oathkeeper always keep their promises!" We then slapped each other a high five.

* * *

(Cue music silence)

After that we were shown to our room. It consisted of two straw beds in a small room. There was a small window looking out to a glittering sea that was reflecting the setting sun.

Kyuubi rushed over to one of the beds and jumped up and down happily. "Yay! We get beds!" she squealed.

"You will live here while you work for us. Things will start getting busy for you tomorrow! So rise early and start living up to our code!" said Chatot. "Don't stay up late. Get to sleep early tonight! That is all." He then exited our new room.

We then settled down into our new beds and quickly dozed off to sleep, excused by this day's events.

* * *

(Cue song Strength in Sadness by Kumi Tanioka from "FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES" Original Soundtrack)

"Say, are you still awake, Kitsune?" asked Kyuubi.

I rolled over in my bed to look at Kyuubi who had also shifted to look at me. "Yeah, Kyuubi?" I asked.

"My heart's been racing all day..." she said as she laid her head down on the straw, though she still watched me. "But I'm glad I finally forced myself to come here."

"Hmmm," I replied, prodding her to continue.

"I thought Wigglytuff would be kinda scary, but he was pretty nice."

"If a little immature and childish," I added, causing Kyuubi to giggle softly. "Yeah, he was that, wasn't he?" She giggled again before she sighed. "We'll experience all sorts of new stuff starting tomorrow, but I'm not very frightened."

"You shouldn't be. I'm with you now," I said softly.

"Yeah, that's right." She laughed softly. "Actually I can't wait to find out what new adventures are in store for us!"

"Well we better get to sleep then or we'll be no good for tomorrow," I suggested.

"Yeah, your right. I am getting a little sleepy..." she replied. Sleep dug into her speech, making it slurry. "Let's give it our all tomorrow. Ok, Kitsune. Sleep tight."

"Goodnight Kyuubi," I replied but my mind was still thinking over the day.

'Ok, you've suddenly apprenticed at a guild for exploration. Not bad for a day's work.' I rolled over to look through the window. The stars were glittering back at me. 'I gotta admit, it's pretty exciting to be in an exploration team. And it's fun to be friends with Kyuubi... But first things first...

(Cue song Riku by Yoko Shimomura from Kingdom Hearts 2 OST)

...Who am I?

How did I turn into a Pokémon?

How did I end up unconscious on that beach?'

I then felt sleep creep into my mind. 'I'm feeling sleepy too... Well, thinking about it won't help right now. I'd better focus on the guild's work for now... If I do that, well, everything should become clear eventually... I'll surely get to the bottom of this in time.'

I closed my eyes and the last though that drifted through my head was 'At least, I hope so.'

(UPDATE: 19/11/2011: All listed songs in this and future chapters are available online. See the link in my profile for details.)


	2. Day Two: First Steps

**Day Two - First Steps**

"HEY! HEY THERE!"

'Ahhh! What the fuck is going on! My head feels several sizes too big all of a sudden!'

"RISE AND SHINE!"

'Owwwwww... Daaaaaammnnn...'

"...Why are you still ASLEEP? WAKE UP!"

"M-my poor ears..." moaned Kyuubi, though I was only just able to hear her through the high pitched whistling noise.

"C'mon! Snap OUT of it!" The offending voice finally got round to introducing himself. "I'm Loudred! A fellow apprentice. If you're late for our morning briefing, you'll be SORRY! So MOVE it!"

"I think I'll take that chance," I whimpered as I slowly opened my eyes to look at our overloud alarm clock. He really was a Loudred. 'No wonder he's so fucking loud,' I thought to myself. I saw him about to yell again so I quickly jumped up and rammed my arm into his big mouth, grabbing that dangly thing at the back of the throat. He gagged slightly and I relaxed my grip.

"Glad I have your attention. Now, if you don't want to be gagging for the rest of your life, I suggest you never do this again," I said calmly with an undertone of foreboding. "Got it?" I added, squeezing his throat thingy again for emphases. He nodded quickly. I released it and he quickly backed away.

"Jeez, you didn't need to be so rude," he said.

"Well next time think about waking people up with such a loud voice. It tends to make people very irritable in the mornings. Especially me," I said.

"Right. It's just I love yelling so MUCH!"

"Loudred!"

"Oh, sorry."

I sighed. "We'll be out in a minute ok?"

(Cue song Kaname no Kitchen by Toshihiko Sahashi from Fullmetal Panic Original Sound Track 1)

Loudred nodded and left without saying another loud word. I turned around to see Kyuubi looking at me in an awed way. "Wow!" she breathed.

"You ok?" I asked.

Kyuubi nodded. "Yeah, the ringing in my ears has stopped now."

I smiled. "That's good. It's time to go outside for this briefing that Loudred mentioned."

"Right!" she said, excitement flowing through her veins at the prospect of exploring somewhere awesome. "Let's go!"

"Not without my effects!" I said before grabbing my scarf, tying it around my neck the same way as yesterday when I got it, and grabbing the bag.

We walked out of our room and along a hallway that housed other rooms. We arrived at the main room where everyone in the guild was assembled in front of the Guildmaster's room. We quickly lined up next to a Sunflora and a Digglet.

"You're late rookies!" yelled Loudred from the next 2 rows over from us. I glared at him before he got the message. "Opps, sorry," he said in a much subdued voice. I received several surprised looks from the Pokémon gathered around but soon all attention was directed back at Chatot.

"Well, everyone seems to be present," said Chatot from the front. "Very well. Let us conduct our morning address." He then turned to the closed door to the Guildmaster's room. "Guildmaster! The guild is in full attendance!"

There was a slight pause before the doors opened and Wigglytuff walked into the room, stopping in front of us.

"Thank you, Guildmaster! Please address the crew," said Chatot. However Wigglytuff did not answer. In fact, judging from the sounds coming from him, it sounded like he was asleep. With his eyes open no less.

"Guildmaster Wigglytuff never ceases to amaze me!" whispered one apprentice, one of the three Poochyenas in attendance.

"Yeah, you got that right!" replied a Digglet, most likely the same one from yesterday.

"Yup, looks like he's wide awake," said a Bidoof in the front row.

"Eek! His eyes are wide open! But he's fast asleep!" added a Sunflora next to the Bidoof.

'Is this guy for real?' I thought to myself.

"Thank you, sir! We all value your... words of wisdom!" said Chatot.

"Suck up..." muttered a second Poochyena.

"Ok, Pokémon! Take our Guildmaster's words of wisdom to heart!" said Chatot, regardless of all the mutterings from the apprentices. "Finally, let's not forget our morning cheers! All together now!"

I began to look around a little wildly, not knowing what to say. Looking to Kyuubi didn't help as she didn't know either. I resolved to just stay silent instead of pretending to know and looking like a total idiot.

(Cue song Eastward Bound... by Naoshi Mizuta from Final Fantasy XI Treasures of Aht Urhgan OST)

"A ONE, A TWO... A ONE-TWO-THREE! ONE! DON'T SHIRK WORK! TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY! THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!" everyone blasted out.

'... right,' were my thoughts.

"Ok, Pokémon! Get to work!" sang Chatot which was met with a chorus of hoorays from everyone. They then all scattered, leaving me and Kyuubi with the bird.

I walked over to Kyuubi before Chatot spotted us. "Hey, you shouldn't just be wandering around here. Follow me. I'll show you the ropes," he said before he made his way to the floor above us, Kyuubi and I following.

Upstairs Chatot veered off to the right and stopped in front of a noticeboard. "This is the Job Bulletin Board. Pokémon from various regions post job requests here," he said. He then took on a more serious tone. "You're aware that bad Pokémon are cropping up in greater numbers, right?"

I shifted my eyes to Kyuubi, who nodded. "Yup. Because the flow of time is getting messed up. It's wreaking havoc, right? Which is why lots of bad Pokémon are appearing!"

'Time is messing up? How can that happen? It doesn't seem possible. And what the hell kind of logic is that? Bad Pokémon appear because of time fuck-ups? The hell's going on here?' I thought to myself, very confused.

"Precisely. Time getting out of whack has caused an outbreak of bad Pokémon. This has resulted in an increase in job applications. In addition... and it's unknown if this is because of time's influence... there has also been a mass outbreak of mystery dungeons," continued Chatot.

"Huh?" I said.

"The beach cave yesterday, remember? That was a mystery dungeon," explained Kyuubi. "The layout changes every time you enter. Different items can also be found. If you faint, you lose half of what you've gathered. Money, items. And you get kicked right out. They're very strange places."

"Huh," I repeated, without the questioning tone.

"But every time you go in there's always new things to find!" here she got all hyped up. "They really are fantastic places to go explore!"

"Well! You're quite informed, aren't you?" said Chatot, making Kyuubi blush. "That makes things much easier for me to explain! Jobs all take place in mystery dungeons. You're just beginners, so we'll start you off with this assignment." Chatot then pointed to a piece of paper on the board. I walked over and tore the piece of paper off the board. I looked at it, but immediately realised I couldn't read it. I then promptly handed it to Kyuubi, who understood. She then began to read it out loud.

_"Hello! My name is Spoink! An outlaw has run off with my most prized possession. My precious pearl! That pearl is life itself... to me! I just can't seem to settle down if that pearl isn't in its proper place atop my head! But I've heard my pearl has been sighted! It's said to be on a rocky bluff. But this bluff is reported to be extremely unsafe! I could never go somewhere so frightening! Oh friendly readers! Would you be so kind as to go to the bluff and get my pearl? I beg your help, exploration team members!"_

"Hams it up a bit, don'cha think?" I asked Kyuubi, who giggled softly despite the pissed look on her face. "We're going to fetch an item that somebody dropped?"

"Actually he said it was stolen-" I began.

"I don't care!" retorted Kyuubi, making me blink in surprise. 'Note to self: never make Kyuubi mad.'

"I'd rather go on a bigger mission than that." Here her eyes got all sparkly again. "I'd rather look for treasure or explore unknown places. Things like that!" Chatot looked ready to bite her head off so I decided to intervene before the situation got ugly.

"Kyuubi?" I said, gaining her attention. "Say we do go and explore unknown places, only to realise that we're in way over our head and get totally owned. I think it's a good idea we start with the very easy and work our way up. Only the top explorers would get those kinds of missions. We're just apprentices, we need to gain more experience and renown first." I said this all in a gentle tone. Kyuubi calmed down and nodded.

"That does sound fair," she mumbled. I sighed, glad that one catastrophe had been avoided today.

* * *

(Cue music silence)

"This must be the bluff's entrance," said Kyuubi as a cold, biting wind whipped our scarfs out behind us. The area was void of any Pokémon. There were polished rocks alongside the road that were shaped by years of wind and rain. The path was quite clear and up ahead was the entrance; a large open maw where only darkness could be seen inside.

"Guess so," I replied, flexing my paws, ready for anything inside that cave.

"The mission description says it's all the way down at the bottom; seven levels down."

"We need to be alert. Who knows what may be waiting for us down there."

Kyuubi nodded. "Yeah. We can do this!"

(Cue song Ominous by Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy X OST: Disc 1)

Inside was cold, dark and wet. Water dripped down from the ceiling; the source most likely from an underground spring. It wasn't long before we came across our first encounter. A blue Shellos.

The Shellos sent a wave of mud at me, but I calmly dodged around it and struck the Pokémon hard, knocking it out. We continued on our way.

After about two minutes and three corners we saw a set of stairs leading down.

"I guess we go this way?" I asked Kyuubi, who nodded.

It wasn't long before we crossed another Pokémon who wanted to harm us. It was a Anorith. It scuttled forward quickly and took a swipe at Kyuubi with one of its pincers. Kyuubi jumped up high, away from the pincers, and slammed small fire projectiles at the offender. It was Ember. The attack worked, connecting with the Pokémon, and KO'ing it on the spot.

"Nice job Kyuubi!" I praised. She blushed as a response. Probably didn't receive much in her life and so wasn't used to it. After several more Anorith, Shellos and some Chingling encounters and six more flights of stairs, we reached the B7 level.

(Cue song Mysteries Abound by Masashi Hamauzu from Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack)

The room was certainly beautiful. A wonder on nature. Large, moss covered rocks were stacked on either side of us; a large spring running water down the rocks, pooling in spots before moving onwards to other areas in the mystery dungeon. And there, just in front of the spring was something pink and shiny.

"I think that's the pearl," I said as we walked up to it. As Kyuubi took a closer look I walked over to the spring and had a deep drink. I relished the coolness run down my throat and into my stomach. "Ahh! That's some good water! Wish I brought a water bottle."

Kyuubi also walked over and took a sip. "Oh, nice!" she explained before taking another drink.

"Very useful after the gauntlet we just went through," I said, taking another sip. "And you know what? I feel somewhat stronger than I was entering this place. My attacks deal more damage and everything."

"You're right! I do feel stronger!" replied Kyuubi before handing me the pearl. I took it and placed it carefully in the bag, which held a few other new items. A few golden coins with a numeric number and the letter P stamped on it. Kyuubi explained that it was the currency Pokémon used to buy things; called Poké. Then there were the Oran berries, which not only were good to eat, but also healed minor wounds. And finally there were apples which helped starve the hunger off while we traversed the dungeon.

"So how do we get back?" I asked, wondering if we had to climb back up.

"We use these!" said Kyuubi, showing off her Explorer badge, which she had attached to the front of her scarf. "They have the power to teleport us out of any mystery dungeon, no matter how deep or high we are."

"Useful," I noted before picking mine out of the bag and affixing it to the collar of my scarf too. "So how do we activate them?"

"Just by pressing the jewel firmly, I think," replied Kyuubi who lifted a paw and pressed the red jewel on her badge. Instantly she was enveloped in a pillar of light and the next second, she was gone.

"I see," I said and readied myself, but took one more look around before teleporting out myself.

* * *

(Cue song A Moment of Courtesy by Takeharu Ishimoto from Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Original Soundtrack)

After arriving back, the client was notified and soon Spoink was in front of us. "Th-thank you!" she, as it became apparent from her voice, said. The pearl was currently wedged in between her ears. "I missed it so much! I just couldn't settle down without it up there! So I was just boinging and spronging everywhere!"

'Is that even a word?' I wondered to myself. Spoink really did talk like in her letter. Like a little drama queen.

"But thanks to you, that long nightmare is over! You have my sincere thanks!"

"No problem," I said. "You just spread the word that Team Oathkeeper keeps their promises, and in doing so, always succeed in their mission!"

"I will," replied Spoink before bouncing over and passed me a weighty bag that jingled with money. "There you go! 2,000P for the mission payment," she said.

"What the! 2,000? We can have all this money?" asked Kyuubi in astonishment.

"Of course! Of course! That's nothing compared to my pearl's value!" replied Sponk before nodding at us. "Farewell!" she said dramatically before bouncing away.

"We're rich, Kitsune! All of a sudden, we're rich!" said Kyuubi excitedly. But I just looked at the amount that Spoink had given us. It was suspicious, to be sure. I then looked at Chatot. "How much do we owe you?" I asked, making Kyuubi freeze in her tracks.

Chatot smiled. "Very perceptive. How did you guess?"

"Well there's no way an organization as popular and large as this is non-profit. You need to break-even somehow, right?" I replied.

"Indeed, so I'll take 1,800P please."

I sighed before handing over the arranged amount. After the transaction was done, Kyuubi finally voiced her complaint. "Only 200P? That's so stingy!"

"It is a bit, but it takes quite a bit of money to run an organization such as this. We'll be doing many missions in the future so we'll get rich eventually," I explained.

"I guess..." she muttered dejectedly. At that point a soft, but loud at the same time, voice drifted from downstairs. "Everyone! Thanks for waiting!" We ran downstairs to see what it was. The voice belonged to a Chimecho. "I finished making dinner!" she said. "Come on! Dinner's on!" There was an instant reaction as everyone cheered.

* * *

(Cue song Ichi Nichi no Owari ni by Kurihara Masaki from Azumanga Daioh Original Soundtrack 2)

After everyone had had their fill, we all went off to bed. As Kyuubi and I walked into our bedroom, I removed the bag and my scarf before placing them between mine and the fox Pokémon's bed. I gave a loud yawn; I didn't realise how tired I was until now. I flopped down onto the straw, hearing Kyuubi doing the same.

"Say Kitsune..." said Kyuubi and I rolled onto my stomach to look at her.

"What's up Kyuu?" I asked. She smiled at the nickname before continuing.

"Today was a little hectic with everything we went through, wasn't it?"

"It was a bit," I replied.

"But I'm glad our first job went so well."

"Of course! We're Team Oathkeeper!" I said, grinning.

"Yeah. I'm still a little peeved that the Guild took most of our money. But I understand the reasons for it. But what really made it great was getting thanked by Spoink!"

"Helping others always feels good. Especially if their thanks is heartfelt and sincere," I replied sleepily. "Now come on... let's get some... sleep."

"Yeah... sleep tight Kitsune..." And with those words I closed my eyes and sunk into the sea of dreams.


	3. Day Three: Echoes in Time

**Day Three - Echoes in Time**

(Cue song Automobile Club by Hamaguchi Shirou from Ah! My Goddess TV OST 1)

"Um... excuse me... mister?" came a timid voice to the side of me. I opened my eyes and rolled over to see a Poochyena looking at me with large yellow and red eyes. I sat up and yawned loudly. "Yeah? What's up?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eye.

"Um, Loudred sent me here to wake you up," said the Poochyena. I smiled. "Guess he doesn't have the guts to come and wake me anymore," I said to no-one before addressing the small Pokémon once again. "Did he say what I would do if you woke me up the wrong way?"

The Poochyena nodded. "He said that many unspeakable horrors would happen to me if I did so, but he promised me 50P if I was successful."

"Well don't sweat it. I'm not going to do any such thing to you, unless you did what he did yesterday and yell very loudly to get us up," I said. The Poochyena nodded and relaxed completely. "Ok mister. See you later!" he said before he scampered out of the room.

"Hey, Kyuubi! Time to get up!" I called softly, walking over and gently shaking her. She moaned softly and opened her brown orbs. "Oh, morning Kitsune," she said sleepily. "Am I glad it's you that woke me up."

"Well apparently Loudred thought a repeat of yesterday morning would happen if he woke us up, so he sent a young Poochyena to do it instead. He was definitely not as loud," I explained. "C'mon! We've got another whole day of helping and training to do!" I then turned to wrap my purple scarf around my neck in the usual manner, pinned the Explorer badge to the front and slung the bag over my shoulder. I then stretched my legs and arms before scratching my right face cheek. I yawned again, which was mirrored almost immediately by Kyuubi. I turned to see she had finished tying her scarf around her neck as well. We then nodded at each other and left the room.

A few minutes later, the usual motto was said for the day and everyone began to go about their separate duties. We were just about to go and check out the Job board when Chatot called us over.

(Cue song Kakashi's Theme by Toshiro Masuda from Naruto Original Soundtrack I)

"There is one more thing I would like to show you before you go about your daily duties," he said before walking towards the ladder, beckoning us to follow. We did so and up on the floor above he split off to the left this time, stopping in front of a similar noticeboard.

"Oh?" questioned Kyuubi as she seemed to notice the change. "Didn't we do a job from the board over there?" she looked over to where it was. Currently three Poochyenas were crowded around the board. One was the round eyed Poochyena from before.

"Correct. Today we'll have you do a job listed on this side," said Chatot.

"What's the difference with this one?" I asked, looking closer. The notices on this board were more official looking, and the layout was similar to wanted posters. In fact...

"Chatot, are these wanted posters?" I asked.

"That's correct. This is the Wanted Outlaw Jobs for capturing bad Pokémon that are causing trouble for everyone. Each one has a bounty on their head, so that if captured, the amount of money, or a certain item, will be paid to the arrester," explained Chatot.

"Sounds easy enough, though some of these guys look a little tough for us," I observed.

"There are all kinds of bad Pokémon posted on this board. Some are very evil and others have just committed one or two minor crimes. It's these guys you target until you feel more confident in your skills to tackle stronger adversaries."

"Um..." said Kyuubi, not looking forward to the prospect of battling bad Pokémon. "You say some are weak... but they're bad Pokémon. I'm scared of dangerous Pokémon!"

I walked over to my partner and patted her on the head. "Hey, it's alright! You're underestimating your own skills again. Some of these guys will be no match for us. We'll be fine."

"That's right!" said Chatot. "And besides, this is part of your training. You'll work through it, I'm sure! Everyone's nervous on their first catch. But it would be good if you were prepared for an encounter like this, so I'll have someone give you a tour of the facilities." Chatot then looked over to the group of Poochyena Pokémon and called out. "Hey! Vincent! Can you come over here for a minute?"

One of the Poochyenas, the biggest out of the three there, looked away from the board and walked over to us. "What do you need?" asked the Poochyena.

"Well these two are the new recruits that have just joined," explained Chatot. "Show them around town and then help them choose a low level criminal to scope out for today."

"Sure thing," nodded the Poochyena.

"This is Vincent. He's one of your fellow apprentices. He's been here for two years and has an excellent record for catching criminals so he has much experience to help you choose the right guy to catch." Chatot looked around for a moment. "I think that's all I needed to explain to you so I'll let Vincent take it from here. Follow his orders and you'll be fine." The parrot Pokémon then hopped over to the ladder leading back down.

(Cue song Chameleon Guy from Getbackers OST 1)

"Hey Vincent!" called someone and we turned to see the other two Poochyenas walking over to us. "What did birdbrain want?" asked the third Poochyena. This one had a couple of grey hair spikes between his ears. He then caught sight of us. "Who are they?"

"They are the newbies," began Vincent but broke off. "I'm sorry but I didn't catch your names."

"I'm Kitsune and this is Kyuubi. We're Team Oathkeeper," I introduced.

"Well as you know I'm Vincent; leader of Team Poochy. These are my brothers. Ray," here he pointed a paw at the one with the spiky hair. "And Rex," he shifted his paw to the large eyed Poochyena that woke us up earlier on.

"We've met Rex," I explained, waving a hello at him. "Did you get your 50P?"

"Yep!" Rex yipped. "He whined at the fact that he lost his most recent job reward money to me but he paid up." I grinned.

"Well then, let's go into Treasure Town. We need to stock up on items anyway for today's capture." Vincent then turned to his brothers. "You two go to Duskull's bank and take out 200P, then pick up the three Oran Berries out of storage from Old Ma Kangaskhan. I'll show Team Oathkeeper the ropes and meet you in the square later."

"Sure thing bro!" said Ray and both he and Rex climbed out to the top level.

"Ok you two," Vincent addressed us, "How much do you know about the lower level?"

"Well we know the mess hall, the bedrooms and the Guildmaster's room, but there's a Crogunk who keeps tending to a caldron down there. What's that all about?" asked Kyuubi.

"Well to be honest, we don't know either. He's been working on something for the past few months and won't tell us what he's working on. It's a little creepy. But that's all there is to B2 level. And you know everything there is to know on this level? The two job boards and general info board?"

"General info board?" I asked. In response Vincent walked over to a sign board opposite the Jobs board. "This board has info like Guild notices, special dates and dungeon info to help out beginners. It's worth a look unless your good at common sense as most of the help info on there is simply that."

"Fair enough," I replied with Kyuubi nodding.

"Ok then, I'll show you the town! Follow me," said Vincent and we trooped out of the Guild.

(Cue song Tsubasa by Kajiura Yuki from Erementar Gerad OST 1)

Five minutes later Vincent had led us into Treasure Town. Several members of the guild were walking around, chatting with the locals or doing business of some sort.

"Ok, this is the main square for Treasure Town," began Vincent, but Kyuubi interrupted him.

"Oh, I can tell you about Treasure Town too!" Kyuubi said to me. She then looked over to a strange building that looked like a Duskull. There were several massive chests filled with certain P coins. One held 5P coins, another held 100P coins. At the front desk there was a large and heavy looking book.

"That's Duskull Bank over there. Useful to store large amounts of Poké inside the chests when you can't afford to lose your stash if you get kicked out of a mystery dungeon," explained Kyuubi.

We then walked over the bridge crossing the river and came to a stop in front of a strange shop that looked like the head of a Keclion Pokémon.

"This is Keclion Market. Items are sold and bought here. And over there is Kangaskhan Storage," Kyuubi pointed to yet another store that looked like the head of a Pokémon, this time a Kangaskhan's head. "It's like the bank, but with items instead. It's always good to have any precious items stored here before a difficult mission."

"I guess that about covers it," finished Kyuubi.

"... Am I obsolete here?" asked Vincent with a slight eye twitch. He then sighed. "Well I'll wait in front of the criminal mission board when you're all stocked up for the mission." He then promptly turned around and headed back to the Guild.

"I think he was looking forward to telling this sort of stuff himself," I said.

"Opps. I guess he was. I hope he's not mad at me?" wondered Kyuubi.

"I don't think he's mad. Just put out. Anyway, what do we do first?" I asked.

"Let's peruse the selection of items at the shop!" said Kyuubi and she bounded over to the counter where two Kecleons were at, serving customers. She stopped in front of a green one. "Morning Mr. Ozal," she greeted warmly.

"Oh, good morning Kyuubi! Good to see you again! And who's this?" he asked as I walked up to stand next to Kyuubi.

"This is my new friend, Kitsune," she introduced me. The green Kecleon nodded at me. "Greetings Kitsune. My name is Ozal and this is my brother, Kucuk. We run the Kecleon shop here in Treasure Town." (AN: Ozal has a slight french accent while Kucuk's is Indian)

"Hello there," I replied before looking at the display holding the items currently in stock. There were several apples in a large bucket, a few berries of varying colours, a couple of different seeds and strange coloured bean-like objects.

"Hey Kyuubi? What are these?" I whispered to the fox Pokémon, pointing at the blocks.

"Oh, they're Gummi blocks," she explained to me. "They're good as a snack for while you're exploring. Some are tastier than others, depends on your preference I guess. Like my favourite are Red Gummis. But," here she looked at the display and sighed. "It doesn't look like Ozal has any stocked. Major bummer!" She then looked at me. "Do you want to try one?"

"Uh, sure," I said before looking up at Ozal. "What Gummis do you stock?" I asked.

"We have a Green one, a Purple one and a Royal one," replied Ozal.

"Ohh! A Royal Gummi. You don't see one of those every day," replied Kyuubi in fascination. I then pointed at the Royal Gummi, which was a dark purple colour. "I'll get that and an apple please!" I asked.

"Sure thing! That'll be 825P please," replied Ozal.

"Ok," I said as I dug out the small bag holding the money from inside the Explorer bag. I counted up what was inside and was pleased that we had collected just over 1000P from the dungeons and the payment from yesterday's mission. I handed over the correct amount of money and received the apple and the Royal Gummi. I placed the apple inside the bag and split the gummi in half; giving one half to Kyuubi.

"Thanks Kitsune! I've never tasted a Royal one before." She then popped it into her mouth and began to chew. I did the same and was amazed at the flavour. It was delicious. (AN: Tastes like a blackberry Skittle or if you don't have Skittles in your country then it tastes like apple and blackberry juice)

"Yummy!" I said, grinning.

"Ehh... still like my red gummis better," replied Kyuubi.

"Mister Ozal! Mister Kucuk!" called a voice and we turned to see two blue and white Pokémon running towards us. From the looks of them, they were a Marill and an Azurill.

"Ah! Little Marill and Azurill!" said Ozal kindly. "Welcome my young friends!"

"Hello," said the young Azurill. "May I buy an apple?"

"Of course," Ozal said. He went to the apple bin and placed three inside a roughly woven bag. He handed the bag over and received 25P in return. I was a little confused as Ozal didn't seem to be the type to make a mistake like that. So what was going on?

"Thank you Mister Ozal, Mister Kucuk!" said Marill in happiness.

"No, thank you, little ones! You are to be admired!" replied Ozal and my curiosity grew. And as the two ran off down the road, Ozal and Kucuk turned to us.

"I sense you saw what I did, yes?" asked Ozal to me. I nodded.

"What? Did I miss something?" asked Kyuubi.

"Ozal gave three apples for the price of one," I replied.

"Well you see, those two are brothers. Lately their poor mother has fallen sick. So those kids come and do the shopping for her," explained Ozal. "It's quite remarkable. Though very young, they've stepped up and taken charge."

"Mister Ozal!" came a shout and we saw the two brothers pelting down the street to the shop. They skidded to a stop at the counter and Marill, who was carrying the bag, opened it up to show three apples. "You gave us two extra apples!" said Azurill.

"We didn't pay for this many," added Marill.

"That is a gift from me and my brother," explained Ozal with Kucuk nodding. "Please, share it among yourselves and enjoy."

"Really?" asked Marill. Azurill burst into happy bouncing on his tail, which looked very cute. "Yay! Thank you Mr. Ozal and Mr. Kucuk!"

"Don't worry about it. Take care on your way home!" replied the green Kecleon as the brothers took off once again. But Azurill, who was holding his own apple, tripped on his big tail and crashed to the ground. The apple was flung out of his grip and tumbled over to rest at my feet.

I picked up the apple and handed it out to the little guy as he picked himself up and bounced over to me. "W-we're sorry to bother you. Thank you so much," Azurill replied.

"No problems kid. You take care now and look after your mother, kay?" I said kindly.

Azurill brightened and nodded. "Yes, I will mister. Thank you." Azurill took the apple with his tail and for a brief moment the tail brushed against my paw. All of a sudden a wave of dizziness swept over me. 'What the...?' I thought as I closed my eyes as a sudden pressure built up in my head, right between my eyes. The pressure intensified and the dizziness strengthened. 'What's going ... on...?' Then everything went dark.

(Cue music silence)

After a few moments a spark of light sprang into my vision and grew to cover everything in white light. And while this happened, I heard a loud call.

"H-h-h...HELP!"

Then just like that, the light disappeared and the darkness receded. I blinked and saw colour. Treasure Town. The shop. Azurill. I recoiled violently back. 'What the hell is going on! I'm sure I heard a call for help just now...' I looked around for the source and rested my eyes on little Azurill. 'Was it you?' I questioned in my thoughts.

"Is something the matter?" asked Azurill, confused and slightly fearful of my reaction.

"Hey! Azurill! What's going on? Come on home!" called a voice and we all looked over to see Marill on the bridge.

"Yup! I'm coming! Wait up!" called Azurill and with a quick bow at me, the kid bounced over to his older brother. "You ok?" he asked.

"Yup!" replied Azurill.

"Well we've done the shopping... Now we gotta look for that item we've lost!" said Marill. "Let's get going!"

"Yup! I'm coming!" And with that, the two brothers bounded away.

"Ha! Those little guys are cute," said Kyuubi. I was inclined to agree, but the phenomenon I just witnessed was in the forefront of my mind.

'What in the hell was that?' It was only after a few moments that I realised that Kyuubi was talking to me.

"Hey? What's the matter, Kitsune?"

"Um... at the risk of sounding a little crazy, did you just hear a shout for help just now?" I asked her.

"Uh, no... I didn't hear anything like that," she replied, looking confused. She turned to Ozal and Kucuk. "Did you hear anything like that?"

"No, nothing out of the ordinary," replied Ozal.

"I didn't hear anything strange either," added Kucuk.

"Well then, I think you just imagined it," said Kyuubi to me. I put on a slightly embarrassed smile, but inside I was sure of myself. 'I did hear that call. I wasn't dreaming! It was that little Azurill.'

"Hey! Come on! Snap out of it!" called Kyuubi cheerfully. "We've got a bad Pokémon to catch!"

* * *

(Cue song The Yaschas Massif by Masashi Hamauzu from Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack)

We were now heading out of the town after introducing ourselves to everyone we saw. The Kangaskhan minding the Items Storage stall was a very motherly Pokémon. And her kid was nice too. We made a promise to come and play when we weren't busy.

Across the road from the stall was a female Shuppet and a female Murkrow. They were an exploration team called Team Ebony. Both seemed in disagreement on what was really treasure. Murkrow was always on about shiny trinkets while Shuppet wanted valuable items.

We also met another team called Team Tasty, made up of a Wurmple and a Swellow acting as the leader. When I asked Wrumple on the strange name, he replied nervously that he expected to be just that to his leader someday. Poor guy was on the verge of a nervous breakdown so we just moved along. But we didn't walk for more than three steps when Kyuubi spotted the Marill and Azurill brothers talking to a Drowzee.

"Hey? I wonder what they're up to?" asked Kyuubi. At that point Azurill gave a cry of joy with Marill thanking the Drowzee.

"Please! It's nothing," replied Drowzee. Overcome with curiosity we walked over.

"What's happening?" asked Kyuubi.

"Oh! Hi!" replied Azurill.

"Some time ago, we lost a Water Float that belonged to us," explained Marill. "We've been looking all over for it, but with no luck. Then Mr. Drowzee came along and he says he may have seen our Water Float somewhere! He even offered to help us look for it." He looked so happy at the offered help.

"Good for you!" replied Kyuubi, smiling.

"Thank you Mr. Drowzee!" chirped Azurill.

"Oh, please..." replied the Pokémon, seemingly getting a little embarrassed at the thanks. "I'd have to have a cold heart to ignore kids in need! I can't turn a blind eye! Let us be on our way to begin our search!"

"Yup!" the brothers replied.

(Cue music silence)

They then began to head for the exit to Treasure Town, but Drowzee walked a little too close to me and accidently bumped into me softly. "Whoops! Sorry about that," he apologised before continuing. But I didn't hear pay any attention to that. Again I felt a sudden pressure built up in my head in the same spot. I felt dizzy once again as the pressure built to an apex before everything turned black. I heard Kyuubi talk about how nice that Drowzee was, but it sounded like she was speaking from a great distance. Then there was another bright spark of light, like last time, only what happened afterwards was different.

(Cue song Those For the Purge by Masashi Hamauzu from Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack)

I stood in a deserted clearing with mountains all around me. The ground was hard and dusty, with a few rocks littered around the place. I looked up to see that some sort of bluish filter was placed over the world, as if it was twilight, but the sun was still high in the sky. I looked down to see Drowzee and Azurill. They were alone.

"If you keep being difficult, it will mean big trouble for you!" said Drowzee, but his voice was nothing like what I had heard moments before. He sounded mean and threatening.

"H-h-h...HELP!" yelled Azurill in the exact same tone as I had heard before when this had happened. Then everything turned white and I was suddenly back to where I was before.

'What in the hell?' I thought. 'This is getting too strange.'

"It would be great if they found their item soon. Hey?" Kyuubi nudged me slightly. "You alright Kitsune?"

I turned to her, worried for Azurill. It must've showed on my face. "Why are you looking so grim?"

"Well, this is going to sound... insane to say the least. I just had a sort of... dizzy spell followed by a flash of sorts. I saw Azurill and that Drowzee in some sort of mountainous region. The kid was being threatened by Drowzee. He yelled out for help. And then I'm back here. We have to go rescue that kid."

Kyuubi didn't say anything. She just looked at me in worry.

"It's an emergency!" I said urgently.

"You say that but... Well it's not like I don't trust you Kitsune, but I just can't believe it!" Kyuubi replied. "After all, Drowzee seemed to be a sincerely nice Pokémon, didn't he?"

"Looks can be deceiving," I replied. I admired her for being so trusting, but the world isn't always so black and white.

"But they all looked like they were having a good time, didn't they?" She then smiled at me. "You're probably just tired Kitsune. Maybe that's why you had that bad daydream."

"It wasn't a dream... or was it? I don't know," I was now quite confused. 'What was that? So bizarre...'

"Anyway, we're only apprentices. We can't just go off on our own," reasoned the fox Pokémon. "Sure, it's a little odd, but we have to focus on our guild work for now."

"Right," I said in return, pushing the strange vision out of my mind for the moment.

"Do we need anything more to get?" Kyuubi asked.

I rummaged around in the bag. "We picked up an Apple in yesterday's adventure. And there's the one we just bought. I think we'll be fine," I reported.

"Then let's go see Vincent. I'm sure he's waiting for us," said Kyuubi.


	4. Day Three: The Aura is With Me

**Day Three: The Aura is With Me**

[AN Reminder!: The songs for this chapter are listed under the main link for the soundtrack for this story on my profile.]

(Cue song Exoticism by Takashi Yoshida from Dynasty Warriors 7 Soundtrack)

"Hey rookies!" called Vincent as Kyuubi and I climbed down the ladder to the first level in the guild. We waved at him and walked over to the Poochyena sitting next to the Wanted List Bulletin Board.

"You all stocked up?" he asked.

"Sure are," I replied, patting the bag beside me.

"Good. Now we don't want you two going after someone and getting completely run over by him, so I'll assess your current strength. What was the last Mystery Dungeon you visited?" he asked in a professional tone.

"Uhh... what was the name of that place? Something Bluff?" I asked.

"The Drenched Bluff?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah, that's the one!" nodded Kyuubi.

"How challenging would you say the dungeon was?"

"Hmmm, I found it quite easy," I replied.

"It was, wasn't it," the red vixen agreed.

"Ok. I think I've got a good handle on your skill level. Now I'll just-" Vincent paused as a loud voice emanated from the board.

"Stand clear! Updating listings! I repeat, stand clear! Updating listings!" Then there was a rumbling sound as the board began to shake.

"What's going on Vincent?" I asked.

"The board's about to be updated with new targets," Vincent explained. As soon as he had finished, the board flipped horizontally, showing a board with nothing on it.

"Wow! Neat," I grinned.

"So what's happening now?" Kyuubi asked.

"I imagine someone on the other side is taking down the targets that have been caught and putting up new posters. Right?" I asked Vincent.

"Very good, Kitsuné. You know Diglett, the sentry?" he asked. We nodded in confirmation. "His dad, Dugtrio, takes care of updating the data on the boards. Normally no-one notices, but it's still a very important job and he takes his role very seriously."

"Update completed! Stand clear! I repeat, update completed! Stand clear!" Dugtrio called through the panel before it flipped again, showing that the Owtlaw posters had changed. Some remained on the board, while old ones had been swapped out for new ones.

"Cool," I nodded, folding my arms.

"Well, it's time to pick your first bad guy to beat up," Vincent said. I was about to check out the board but Kyuubi suddenly began to tremble.

"Hey Kyuubi, what's up?" I asked.

"K-Kitsuné. P-p-please look at this!" she stuttered in fear.

"Huh?" I murmured as I looked to the board.

"Top left hand corner," she continued.

(Cue song T.B.C. by Senju Akira from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Original Soundtrack 2)

I looked, and my heart froze. There, in the corner, was a picture of a Drowzee. But not just any Drowzee. It was the same one that had accompanied Marill and Azurill not twenty minutes ago. And the same one from my vision. Kyuubi and I took one look at each other before we dashed to the ladder and frantically clambered up to the top.

"Hey! Where are you two going?" Vincent called after us, but it fell on deaf ears.

"That was the same Drowzee from earlier!" I said as we sped out of the entrance and down the hill.

"Then your dream wasn't a dream after all. Some sort of a vision?" she asked.

"Don't know! And I don't care at the moment. All that matters is getting to Azurill as quickly as possible!" I said as we neared the crossroads in front of Treasure Town. And there was Marill, looking very panicky.

"Marill!" I called before we skidded to a stop in front of him.

"Where are Azurill and Drowzee?" Kyuubi asked.

"Yes... about them...! After we left, we went looking for our lost item together. But we got separated when Mr. Drowzee went somewhere with Azurill. I called and called! But they didn't come back. I got scared..." Marill sniffed.

"Which way did they go Marill?" I asked gently, but firmly.

"I-I'll show you!" he replied.

"Very well. Let's go Kyuubi!" I said.

"Right!" she replied and we took off with Marill leading.

* * *

(Cue song Fight Tune "Arms of Shinra" by Masashi Hamauzu from DIRGE of CERBERUS -FINAL FANTASY VII- Original Soundtrack)

We quickly converged at the entrance to a rocky mountain. Sparse plant life was dotted around the area.

"So they went in here?" I asked.

"Yes...," Marill replied, looking quite worried.

"Say Kitsuné..." Kyuubi began, but I just nodded. "Yes, this area matches what I saw in my vision," I replied.

"Then let's get going!" she replied, her eyes focused on the task.

"Go get the police Marill and get them to meet us at the entrance," I said to the older brother.

"Ok!" he replied before speeding off in the direction we came. As soon as he had gone, we sped into the Mystery Dungeon.

"Do you know anything about where we are Kyuubi?" I asked as we ran.

"It's called Mt. Bristle, and it's said that strong Pokémon live here," Kyuubi replied, her speed faltering for a moment.

"It's ok Kyuubi. I won't let anything happen to you," I replied. At that point a Doduo appeared in our path. It rushed us, but I just swiftly ducked under their striking heads and delivered a strong punch to its body. The Pokémon flew back from the force and dashed away from us, clearly nervous about going up against me for a second round.

"Maybe this place is overrated?" I wondered out loud before we continued up.

However we soon encountered a new force. Two Machops and a single Geodude.

I quickly engaged with the nearest Machop. We both executed a high kick which collided at the same time. Machop was quick to counter with a punch followed by a kick. I blocked the punch but was hit by the kick, and was flung away, but I was able to right myself in mid air and landed on my feet. My eyes widened as I saw Machop doing a flying kick. I moved out of the way and dodged the kick. I took the chance now that Machop let its guard down with that flying kick. I threw a couple of spinning kicks hitting its back. Machop turned around and charged with a middle punch. It gasped when I caught the fist and slammed my foot into his stomach, sending him rocketing toward the Geodude. The two collided and were knocked out.

"Booya!" I cried out in victory before looking to see how Kyuubi was doing. She was handling herself well as she flung out an Ember move. The second Machop caught it full in the face and was knocked out.

"Nice job!" I congratulated.

"You too," she grinned. We stood there, feeling a little embarrassed at each other's praise before we remembered why we were here in the first place.

"Let's go!" I said and we continued to climb up the mountain.

(Cue song Kaishuu Meirei by Kajiura Yuki from Erementar Gerad OST 1)

Thankfully the remaining journey to the top was mostly clear of any more hostile encounters, aside from another Doduo that fled as soon as I landed a good Bite attack on it. At the top we saw Azurill cry out and run away from the cliff face behind him, but Drowzee blocked him off.

"H-hey! Stop that!" Drowzee cried out as he stood in Azurill's way. "Sheesh! I said that I'll take you home when you're done! If you keep being difficult, it will mean big trouble for you!" he threatened.

"H-h-h... HELP!" Azurill cried out.

"Stop right there!" I yelled as we converged on the two.

"We won't let you do that!" Kyuubi glared at the bad Pokémon. "Drowzee, you bully!"

"H-how did you find this place?" he asked nervously.

"We're Team Oathkeeper! An exploration team!" I announced confidently, keeping my eyes fixed on the target.

"No criminal can escape us!" Kyuubi added, her voice sounding strong.

"Ugh! An exploration team?" blanched Drowzee. "You came to apprehend..." he paused as he focused his eyes on Kyuubi. "...Huh? Are you... trembling?"

I looked away to see that Drowzee was indeed right. Even though Kyuubi sounded brave, her body was telling a completely different story and was shaking with fright.

"A-ha! I've figured it out!" Drowzee shouted triumphantly. "You say you're on an exploration team, but you're total rookies!"

"Shit!" I cursed silently. I was hoping to intimidate him into giving up without a fight, but it seemed that ploy just flew out the window. Who knows how strong this guy was. We forgot to check his rating on the poster, or at least, Kyuubi had forgotten, seeing as I couldn't understand the written language yet.

"Heh. That's right, I'm a wanted Pokémon with a bounty on my head," Drowzee smirked. "But can you two do the job? Can you confront this outlaw and bring him to justice?" he mocked.

I placed my hand... er... paw... on Kyuubi's shoulder. She looked up at me. "It's ok Kyuubi. I'm right here, with you. We can take him," I smiled gently.

"...Y-you're right. We can!" she nodded and her shivering subsided. "We can Drowzee!" she shouted at the criminal. "Team Oathkeeper will never lose to a bad guy like you!"

"Ha ha ha!" Drowzee laughed. "I've been chased by all sorts of exploration teams in my day... but never a sorrier-looking bunch than you two!"

(Cue song Turmoil by Noriko Matsueda & Takahito Eguchi from Final Fantasy X-2 OST - Disc 2)

"We're taking you down Drowzee!" I roared before I charged at him. But before I could get even close to him, the Pokémon glowed with blue psychic energy and I was suddenly lifted into the air by an invisible force.

"What the hell?" I cried out before I was slammed hard into the ground. Pain shot through my body as the energy released its hold on me. I tried to get up, but I was still in too much pain from the assault.

"Kitsuné!" Kyuubi shouted in worry, before running over to me. However before she could arrive at my side, she too, was picked up and thrown into the ground by psychic energy.

"Kyuubi! No!" I called to her. "Let her go!" I roared at Drowzee, though I knew better.

"Ha ha ha!" the Pokémon laughed. "Why should I? I'm the bad guy remember?" He then psychically picked Kyuubi up and slammed her into the ground repeatedly. Each single cry of pain from her was driving me mad with fury.

"AaaahhhhHHHH!" Kyuubi screamed in pain from the tenth or eleventh consecutive hit, I couldn't tell. Tears were flowing from her scrunched up eyes and she had multiple scratches and bruises on her body.

"And now it's time to end it," Drowzee said before focusing. A rainbow coloured beam of psychic energy shot out from his forehead and moved swiftly towards the beaten up fox Pokémon.

(Cue song Icarus - Main Theme by Michael McCann from Deus Ex: Human Revolution OST)

"KYUUBIIIIIII!" I cried out in fear, before something clicked in my head, and all of a sudden, I felt better. Better than better in fact. But I didn't ponder this new feeling. I stood up and dashed with speeds I never knew I possessed, picked Kyuubi up and moved away before the beam hit the both of us.

]-Third POV-[

Drowzee smirked as he watched his Psybeam get closer and closer to the fox Pokémon. Soon she would be knocked out and he would be free to get the brat to get his treasure. But then an explosion of azure and violet energy caught his attention and a comet of the same coloured energy sped toward the fox and snatched her away before the beam could hit her.

"What the hell?" he cried out in confusion as the beam hit the ground and sent up a cloud of dust, which was almost instantly blown away in the mountain winds. Drowzee looked, and his eyes widened in fear.

There, holding the vixen in one arm and a glowing blue and purple energy sword in the other, was Kitsuné, bathed in a massive aura of azure and violet energy. Large energy wings of the same colours were spread out behind him. And his eyes burned red with fury. He looked like some sort of holy warrior from ancient legends.

"W-what are you?" Drowzee stuttered in fear.

Kitsuné looked over himself in confusion as his eyes took in this new transformation. **"I'm not sure what this is, but I feel so much more powerful,"** he replied, his voice much more lower and more animalistic than before; more growly.

Kyuubi then opened her eyes to see Kitsuné. "What happened?" she asked.

"**I don't know Kyuubi,"** Kitsuné said in return. He gently placed her on the ground and pushed an Oran berry from the bag into her mouth. **"Just stay here for a moment. I'll take care of this."**

She nodded, completely in awe of this transformation. "Ok. Be careful."

Kitsuné smiled at her kindly, and Kyuubi sighed internally. She was afraid that Kitsuné had gone into something akin to the Blaze ability, that sometimes made the Pokémon under its influence to go berserk. But Kitsuné still looked to be fine and well in control.

Kitsuné then turned to Drowzee and his eyes hardened once again, and pointed his broadsword of energy at him. **"You had the chance to knock Kyuubi out quickly, with minimal pain with that psychic move of yours. But instead you continued to deal her pain until she was on the brink of falling unconscious. For that reason alone I will not forgive you! Prepare yourself for my Anemos ****Kyuuslash****!"**

He then rushed Drowzee with amazing speed. Not able to counter in time, Drowzee was kicked high into the air. Kitsuné flew into the air with his energy wings, leaving a contrail of bright azure and violet energy smoke behind. He past Drowzee in the air and slashed his sword straight through him, creating a small shockwave of blue and purple energy that burst out from the cut. But there was no visible wound. However Kitsuné wasn't done yet. He continued past him, turned sharply and came at Drowzee from a different angle. Again Drowzee was slashed with the energy sword. And this process was repeated a further 6 times. On the 9th time Kitsuné attacked from directly overhead and slashed at him. This final blow sent Drowzee slamming into the ground at high speeds, creating a small crater. Kitsuné slowly drifted down and landed next to Kyuubi, who was already feeling much better.

"**May you learn your lesson Drowzee. If not, I will come after you again, and again," **Kitsuné growled at him. Drowzee gurgled slightly before falling unconscious.

The energy then began to seep into Kitsuné's body until the aura, sword and wings were no more.

]-First POV-[

(Cue song Main Menu Theme by Michael McCann from Deus Ex: Human Revolution OST)

I gasped for breath as the sudden power flux disappeared from me, leaving my body quite weak. I collapsed on the ground, breathing hard.

"Kitsuné!" called a female voice and I turned my head to the side to see Kyuubi running over to me. "Are you alright? Kitsuné?"

"Never mind me. What about you? Are you feeling better?" I asked in worry.

"I'm feeling a lot better after eating that Oran Berry," she replied.

"That's good," I sighed in relief. "I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner."

Kyuubi shook her head and placed a paw on my shoulder. "It's alright! I'm not blaming you. If anything, it's my fault for not being strong enough." She had turned away as she said this.

I held onto her head and forced her to look into my eyes. "You are not weak. It's just that he was too strong for us for our current skills."

"But what about you? What was that energy around you? And what was that move?" she asked.

"I think... it was my Aura," I replied as information about Riolus, Lucarios and Aura popped into my mind. It seemed that, while I still had no idea about who I was, I knew plenty of other stuff, like info on other Pokémon.

"Aura?" Kyuubi asked.

"Yeah," I nodded as I sat up. "Aura is within every living being. Even the trees, the grass... in every Pokémon and human. You could call it 'life force' energy."

"Wow... how do you know that?" Kyuubi asked.

"Well it seems I know heaps of stuff about all types of Pokémon. I still don't remember who I am, but I know that Riolu and Lucario can use Aura in many ways, besides for living. But I seem to recall that Riolu can only use small amounts of Aura with their senses, and that only after they evolve into a Lucario can they use Aura outside their bodies." By now I was more talking to myself, rather than to Kyuubi.

"Evolve?" Kyuubi asked.

"You know? Pokémon evolution?" I asked.

"What's that?" she asked, completely clueless on the current topic.

"Wow... you're a Pokémon and you don't even know about evolving?" I asked, stunned.

"Well no-one's ever told me about it," she huffed slightly.

"What about your parents?" I asked.

Kyuubi froze. "...I don't remember them," she murmured.

My eyes widened. "Oh... sorry," I replied.

She shook her head. "It's ok. I guess, in a way, we're the same. We both have something important that we can't remember."

"Well, as for the move, Anemos Kyuuslash, I just thought of it on the spot. It seemed apt for what I was just about to do," I added. We sat there in silence before I stood up. "Well, let's haul his ass back to the start of the dungeon. The police will be there with Marill soon, if not already there."

"Heeeeeyyyyyyy!" called a very young voice from afar and we looked up to see Azurill come running over to us.

"Hey Azurill! You ok?" I asked.

"I'm OK," he replied.

"That's good! What a relief!" Kyuubi smiled.

"Maril should be waiting for us down below. Shall we get outta here?" I asked.

"OK," he replied.

* * *

(Cue song Lullaby of Resembool by Senju Akira from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Original Soundtrack 1)

By the time we had climbed back down the mountain with me carrying Drowzee, (not an easy feat as the guy was quite heavy) Marill was waiting for us at the bottom, along with two Magnemite and a single Magnezone. From their air of seriousness, I guessed they were the police.

"ZZZT! I am Magnezone, the primary officer in this region! ZZZT!" the Magnezone said, confirming my assumptions.

"Right-e-o," I said as I dumped Drowzee face first at their feet, before collapsing on the ground, panting hard. "Here… is… whoo! The bad guy," I finished between deep breaths.

"Thanks to you, we are able to arrest a wanted outlaw! ZZZT!" the flying saucer looking Pokémon replied in thanks. It was at this point that Drowzee began to wake up.

"Uuuhhh…. Where?... Where am I? What happened?" he mumbled as he sat up. One of the Magnemite got in his face and jolted him a bit. "You're under arrest Drowzee! You have the right to remain silent! Anything you say can be used against you!" the Pokémon listed off his rights before jolting him again to make him stand up.

"Yeowch!" the psychic Pokémon replied as he jumped to his feet.

"ZZZT! We owe you great thanks for your cooperation! ZZZT!" Magnezone said. "ZZZT! We will send the reward to your guild. Thank you again! ZZZT!" He then turned around and motioned for his subordinates to escort the prisoner back to Treasure Town.

As this was happening, Azurill and Marill were greeting each other in tears and joy. We walked over to them just as they were getting the water works out of the way.

"You two all good?" I asked.

"Yup!" Azurill replied, seemingly back to his usual self.

"Thank you so much you two!" Marill thanked us.

"Yup! Thank you for rescuing me!" Azurill added.

"No problem!" Kyuubi smiled.

"You two take care of each other now," I said.

* * *

(Cue song Naruto's Daily Life by Toshiro Masuda from Naruto Original Soundtrack I)

After escorting the two brothers back to Treasure Town, Kyuubi and I headed back to Wigglytuff's Guild to report our success to Chatot.

"I've gotten the bounty from Officer Magnezone for the captured outlaw! Well done, you two!" the bird congratulated us. "Here's your share for the job." He hopped forward and placed a small bag of jingling gold into my paws.

"300P," Chatot announced.

"No way! This is all we get? After all our effort…" Kyuubi asked in shock.

"Kyuubi, it's ok," I said, patting her on the back.

"It's all part of the training! And we expect just as much effort tomorrow! Hee-heeee!" Chatot finished up, laughing good naturedly. However it probably wasn't the brightest of things to do as Kyuubi glared at Chatot, who, after catching her look, immediately shut up and scampered away, before Kyuubi decided to take it a step further and light his tail feathers on fire.

I watched in great amusement as the bird bolted from Kyuubi's site before laughing as well. When she glared at me, I tried to stop, but simply couldn't. After a few seconds a smile made itself onto the fox's face and soon she was laughing too.

"Poor Chatot! No way could he stand up to your Death Glare," I grinned.

"Maybe I should go apologise to him," she wondered.

"Nah! Don't worry about it. He needs to learn that there are times to laugh, and times to shut the beak," I replied.

"Still, it would be nice if they'd give us a slightly bigger share of the reward," Kyuubi mumbled sourly before smiling. "But that's alright. We were able to rescue Azurill. And it's all thanks to you, Kitsuné!"

"Me?" I asked.

"Not only because of that dream you had, but also for getting us out of that pinch with your amazing powers. We were able to respond almost instantly as soon as we saw the poster," she explained.

"Yeah, I guess. But I wonder what kind of dream it is? A vision? Premonition? It was about the future after all," I wondered before shaking my head. "I'll figure it out somehow." At that point, Kyuubi's stomach decided to make its feelings known to the world.

"Uhhh," she said, blushing from the embarrassment. It soon didn't matter as my stomach followed suite.

"I'm thinking we need some grub," I laughed. "Let's get some chow Kyuubi."

"Right behind you Kitsuné!" she said as we made our way to the dining table.

* * *

(Cue song Fake wings bitter sweet ver. by Yuki Kajiura from .hack/SIGN EXTRA OST)

By the time we had finished dinner, a raging storm was doing its thing outside. Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled and rain came down thick and fast. I watched from our window as the storm thundered outside. It was strange, but watching the storm was quite relaxing to me. I think it was the sound of the rain pounding on the outside cliff face.

Kyuubi stood next to me, watching, and jumping a little every time a particularly close lightning strike or loud thunderclap announced itself. "Wow, that lightning's intense!" she cried out after a very close bolt struck nearby, lighting up the whole window.

"That reminds me! The night before I found you on the beach, there was a fierce thunderstorm then as well," Kyuubi said, turning to me.

"Hmm… I think I do remember being out in the storm before I woke up," I replied, screwing up my eyes to remember the scene vaguely.

"Do you remember anything before that yet?" Kyuubi asked tentatively.

I walked over to my bed, sat in a mediative stance, and focused on trying to remember. But I couldn't go further back beyond the feeling of bobbing about in the sea, in the storm. I opened my eyes and shook my head.

"I guess it won't be that easy," the vixen replied sadly.

"It's ok. It'll come in time. I'm sure it will," I said, trying to cheer her up, which was ironic as I was the one with the missing memory.

"Yeah, ok Kitsuné!" she replied, looking like she felt better. She glanced outside again before looking back. "We should get some sleep. Tomorrow'll be another full day."

"Good idea," I replied before tipping sideways and resting my head against the straw. I watched as Kyuubi made herself comfortable before she too rested her head on her bed.

But before I drifted off completely, she spoke up softly.

"Say, Kitsuné. Are you still awake?"

I mumbled something unidentifiable, but opened my eyes nonetheless. The lightning continued to flash outside as she spoke.

"I've been thinking about it since it happened. That strange dream you had Kitsuné… Maybe it has something to do with you personally."

'It's possible,' I thought to myself.

"I can't quite say why. I sure don't know any other Riolu who dreams about the future," she said.

"Do you know any other Riolu, period?" I mumbled.

She giggled softly. "Point taken." She then sighed. "I've also never heard of a human turning into a Pokémon either. That's why I think the two events are connected. That's the feeling I keep getting."

There was a pause as the possibility was turned over a few times in my head.

"I don't know what you were like as a human Kitsuné, but I think you must've been a good person. After all, you helped us catch that bad Pokémon," Kyuubi said. I smiled, glad that Kyuubi thought so.

"You know… Time is getting messed up, bit by bit, all over the world. No one seems to know why, but everyone believes that the Time Gears are somehow involved."

"Huh?" I asked as I rolled over to look at her. "Time Gears?"

She opened her eyes and looked at me. "I don't know what they look like, but they say that the gears help keep time flowing in that region. They are hidden in secret places around the world. Like in a forest, or at a lake in an underground cavern. There are even rumours that there's a hidden alter inside a volcano."

]-In the middle of Treeshroud Forest-[

(Cue song Desperate Times by Greg Edmonson from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Soundtrack)

In the middle of the storm, and swift shadow sped past, not even noticed by anyone, or anything.

"_But… what happens if a region loses its Time Gear? I don't really know the answer to that question."_

The shadow reached a clearing, deep in the forest, and looked toward a patch of very short grass, with glowing patches and symbols etched into the ground.

"_But my guess is that if a Time Gear is removed from a region… the flow of time in that region will probably stop too. That's why everyone makes sure never to disturb the Time Gears. Everyone has long been certain that some kind of disaster would strike. So everyone stays away from them, and doesn't tamper with them. Even the most hardened criminal Pokémon know to avoid messing with them."_

The shadow blinked as it looked forward with wide eyes. "Is that what I think it is? Could it be…?" the shadow spoke in a gruff male voice. "Yes, it is!"

A flash of lightning illuminated the area, showing a completely black skinned Gallade with fierce fiery orange eyes. "I finally found it! A Time Gear! However… this is just the first one. I still have a lot of work to do."

* * *

[AN: The next chapter is finally out. A few notes:

Gallade is voiced by Christopher Sabat  
Kyuubi is voiced by Mandy Moore who played Princess Rapunzel in Tangled

The translation of Anemos Kyuuslash: Anemos is Greek for Wind. Kyuu means 9 in Japanese. The move basically looks like a nine hit version of Omnislash Version 6 from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete. There is a ground version, but that will be used later in the story.

Finally, I would like to thank the 14 people who've voted on my current poll. I will keep it live for a few more days to see if it will gain more votes, so anyone who hasn't voted, please do. There will be a new poll after this one listing the stories I'm prepared to publish on the site, and which one you would like to see first. Rest assured they will all go on at some point.

Please review the chapter, or for those who have just read the whole thing, review the story so far. I will be bringing out the next chapter, hopefully soon. Till then, keep reading this, and others of my work. Thanks.]


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